ambassador, chris stevens. the republicans attacked kerry for his decorated combat record, when the real complaint was his opposition to the vietnam war on his return. swift voting is now sadly a practice art. it's character assassination with a head fake. for president obama, the challenge for this weekend is to make the right pick for the country. not react one way or the other to the jackals out there. he had the clear head to do it before in picking hillary clinton for state and it made all the difference. i really hope he does it again. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us and happy thanksgiving. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from minneapolis. the republican leader in the house is showing either stupidity or arrogance or both. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> without backroom deals struck behind closed doors, hidden from the people, hell, no, you can't! >> house speaker john boehner is flipping his lid over obama care again. he has no leverage, but now he wants the affordable care act on the table in fiscal cliff negotiations. congressman elijah cummings will respond. papa john's plays politics with pizza and the people fight back. >> no, no, no, no.

>> we'll tell you about the pizza maker's face-saving move. and republicans never rest. ohio senator turner on the effort to block the vote in 2016. and political comedian, baratunde thurston on how to talk to this guy at thanksgiving. ♪ i want my country back, country back, country back ♪ . good evening, folks. thanks for watching. someone needs to sit down with the republicans and explain to them how negotiations work. when you have no leverage, you don't get to make outlandish statements and demands. house speaker john boehner recently called himself the most reasonable man in washington, but in an editorial for the cincinnati enquirer today, boehner took the very unreasonable position of including obama care in debt negotiations. "the president's health care law adds a massive, expensive, unworkable government program at

a time when our national debt already exceeds the size of our country's entire economy. we can't afford pinpoint and we can't afford to leave it intact. that's why i've been clear that the law has to stay on the table, as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation's massive debt challenge." mr. boehner, this is not what the election was all about. john boehner, if he is serious, will have to find out, but he certainly isn't very smart. the congressional budget office estimates, they show that the affordable care act will actually reduce the deficit. it doesn't make a lot of sense to get rid of a deficit reduction program, as part of a deficit reduction deal. the white house already rejected boehner's idea. obama care will not be part of debt negotiations. boehner is up to something here, don't you think? something else, that is. if you watch john boehner closely over the last two weeks, you can see him laying the ground work for the latest ploy. he called obama care the law of the land, but also tried to link it to obama care and the budget. >> you had said, next year, that you would repeal the health care

vote. that's still your mission? >> well, i think the election changes that. it's pretty clear that the president was re-elected. obama care is the law of the land. i think there are parts of the health care law that are going to be very difficult to implement. and very expensive. and at a time where we're trying to find a way to create a path toward a balanced budget, everything has to be on the table. >> but you won't be spending the time next year, trying to repeal obama care? >> there are certainly may be parts of it that we believe need to be changed. we may do that. no decisions at this point. >> boehner backed up this quote with a tweet to the tea party fanatics in his caucus. obama care is the law of the land. but it is rising costs and

threatening our goals. our goal has been and will remain full repeal. it looks like john boehner is trying to do two things here. he's keeping tea partyers on the side by taking a hard line on obama care. he's also trying to muddy the negotiations by putting obama care on the table. none of this is likely to help both sides reach a deal. here comes senator lamar alexander, who once said obama care would be the end of the democratic party. >> i think it's a political kamikaze mission for the democrats to insist on this. >> obama care passed and it did not kill off the democratic party. there's no reason to listen to these guys. so it's hard to understand why democratic senator michael bennet of colorado is teaming up with lamar alexander to do anything. they've introduced a plan to put off the fiscal cliff deadline. according to senator alexander, the plan simply pushes the pause button on all elements of the fiscal cliff, extends everything

for a year, and then gives us six months in which to reform entitlements and reform taxes and reduce the debt. are you kidding me?! push the pause button? we already pushed the pause button in 2011. these representatives were sent back to washington to get something done now. in fact, pushing the pause button could destroy america's credit rating and further harm the economy. mark zandi, chief economist at moody's analytics says, "if we can kick the can, at some point moody's is going to downgrade. you're going to create more instability in the financial markets." zandi said it would be better to do nothing than to create an extension. republicans and some centrist democrats are definitely not getting the message. when the president won re-election, he said his number one priority is to reach an economic deal by reaching across both sides of the aisle. >> i want to be clear. i'm not wedding to every detail of my plan. i'm open to compromise. i'm open to new ideas. i'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges.

but i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. >> republicans and some democrats stop listening right there. if you let the president just continue, you're going to hear the key point of these negotiations. >> i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. i am not going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. i'm not going to do that. >> bottom line, taxes are going up on the top 2% of americans. the rest of the country is not going to bear the full burden of this deal. the president said it, nancy pelosi said it, the voters voted for it. they said it.

what part of this does john boehner simply not understand? the president is willing to reach a compromise with you, mr. boehner, but not on taxes for the wealthy. the republicans already lost this fight pip hope speaker boehner takes this message to heart over this thanksgiving dinner. he grandstand by talking about obama care, or he can get down to the brass tacks and tell his party fanatic that they are going to have to budge on tax hikes. think about it over your turkey and stuffing, speaker boehner. and by the way, you can put some gravy on that, and you know the rest of the sentence. let's bring in congressman elijah cummings of maryland. he's with us tonight here on "the ed show." congressman, glad to have you with us. >> good to be with you, ed. >> we have gotten so many mixed messages about john boehner and what he's doing. where do you think he's coming from? all of a sudden he wants obama

care on the table. >> i think that he's trying to muddy the waters with regard to these fiscal negotiations. clearly, the tea party lost in this election. no doubt about it. the people have spoken, and with regard to the affordable care act, ed, the supreme court, and a conservative court, at that, has already put their stamp of approval on it. we need to move on. and boehner just does not want to, apparently, accept that. and i think he is trying to send a message to the tea party that, you know, he's going to -- he's got something here that he wants to continue to fight over. but we need to let this go. keep in mind, ed, we voted on this repealing of the act some 30-some times already. and the american people clearly want it in tact. and you know what, we got to go back to why the affordable care act was put in place. i mean, it is a system -- our present system is not working. and now the american people, my constituents, simply want us to

get stuff done. and you cannot get it done, ed, by constantly going back and trying to do away with laws that have already been enacted. >> are the republicans just testing the resolve of the democrats? >> i think so. i think so. i think so. and we've got to stand up. and i'm hoping that the president, as he moves around, will go to the various districts and remind people and inform them of how important these negotiations are and how important it is that we have a fair and a very balanced kind of approach here. and that there must be revenues. that tax rates must go up. and i think we have to be very careful with regard to entitlements. because, ed, you know, a lot of people don't realize it, but,

we're in a situation where a lot of people don't have jobs. a lot of younger people are not getting jobs for a while. and so what is going to happen with regards to something like, for example, social security, is that that's going to affect them at the point that they do retire. in other words, the benefits will be less. so with regard to medicare, there are easy ways to address that. and we need to deal with those two matters. and i know we will. but, again, putting this on the table, no. can't do it. >> well, this is going to call out the democrats, no question about it. >> no doubt about it. >> and it's going to test the resolve -- >> and we've got to stand up -- >> and it's going to test the resolve of the democrats. >> and we've got to stand up and be democrats. the people have said to us, please, stop the bickering, go out there and stand up for the middle class. that's what all the polling shows. that's what the election showed. and i'm hoping that mr. boehner, speaker boehner will join us and say to the tea partyers, look, you know, we've got to move on. the country cannot be stagnant,

standing in one place. can't do it. >> well, congressman, what about moving on with the likelihood of a kick the can down the road type of deal, where there would be some kind of temporary extension. do you think democrats would fall prey to that? >> i hope not. i want us to get a deal done. but i can tell you that a bad deal is -- i'd rather have no deal than a bad deal. and so, i don't know exactly how -- i mean, if the republicans keep playing these games, we may very well go into 2013. but i'm hoping that we'll be able to resolve it. because zandi is absolutely right. the more we show that we can't get things done in washington,

that means borrowing becomes even more expensive, ed. and that means that our fiscal problems get even worse. and you said it a moment ago, going back to the affordable care act. the affordable care act reduces the deficit. so the question is, what games are being played? and, basically, what i'm saying to the speaker is, please don't play games. exercise the leadership that i know you're capable of. and stand up and let folks know that we've got to move forward. >> okay. congressman elijah cummings, great to have you with us tonight. >> good to be with you, ed. >> appreciate your time here on "the ed show." we have an update on our report on debt negotiations from last night. we told you about a bloomberg news report on seven democratic senators from solidly red states who were up for re-election in 2014. the report identified these senators as possible defectors from the party's position on taxes. "the ed show" was contacted by senator jay rockefeller of west virginia today and his office issued this statement. they are saying, "as deficit reduction talks continue, i'm squarely focused on making sure the middle class and the most vulnerable aren't left to shoulder the burden, and that the very wealthy pay their fair share." coming up, papa john's ceo changes his tune on obama care after a public backlash. stay with us. you're watching the ed show on msnbc.

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line by choosing to get political about obama care. john nichols and ruth connip join me. lindsey graham's response to criticism to his attacks on susan rice, but republicans still have some explaining to do. bob shrum and tara dowd will join me on that. and ohio secretary of state is hatching a new scheme to rig future elections for republicans. nina turner, state senator from ohio, will join me. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using #edshow. we're coming right back. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque with more brush movements than manual brushes and even up to 50% more than leading sonic technology brushes for a superior clean. oral-b power brushes. go to oralb.com for the latest offers.

welcome back to "the ed show." today, two big food chains actually changed their tune on obama care. the ceo of papa john's now says that he will go along with the affordable care act without

punishing employees or customers and a major denny's franchisee has backtracked on imposing an obama care surcharge. the change came after a public backlash. the biggest about-face came from papa john's ceo, john schneider, who said his previous comments were misunderstood. "the fact is that we are going to open hundreds of stores this year and next and increase employment by over 5,000 jobs worldwide. and we have no plans to cut team hours as a result of the obama care act. papa john's, like most businesses, is still researching what the affordable care act means to our operations. we will honor this law, as we do all laws, and continue to offer 100% of papa john's corporate employees and workers in

company-owned stores health insurance as we have since the company was founded in 1984." the owner of 40 denny's franchises, john mets, completely reversed himself on a plan to add a 5% obama surcharge. businesses at denny's restaurants in florida dropped overnight, after his comments got widespread attention, according to the "huffington post." denny's corporate ceo has expressed disappointment with mr. mets and said it wasn't the company's position. what happened here is that these corporate leaders were living the republican lie. they were buying into fearmongering about the economy and the effects of the affordable care act. once president obama won a resounding re-election victory, they stuck to the republican script, but they saw they could potentially take a financial hit by making these threats. it's not worth the risk to the bottom line, to be so political.

didn't the ceo of papa john's realize that maybe democrats eat pizza as well? joining me tonight, the political editor of the progressive magazine, ruth connif, and john nichols of "the nation" magazine. john, aren't these leaders figuring out they're going to take a hit to the bottom line, when you choose to be political like this, over their business that really has nothing to do with the politics. what do you think? >> sure. it's one of the first lessons in business school. stay out of politics, as regard to your marketing. they can certainly give contributions and they often do. but i really think what happened with the folks at papa john's and this denny's franchise was that they just fell behind the pattern here. the affordable care act has been tested legislatively, judicially, and now, politically. it has passed every test. and the american people themselves have gone through a transition. they have come to understand that this is going to be the law of the land. they've come to know it better, to like it better, and these ceos, i think, as you suggest,

they got caught in the republican lie. they got caught in the campaign rhetoric. and it really tripped them up. it put them a bad place. that's why you see them doing something ceos don't do very often, which is completely abandoning their position, and saying, never mind. >> both papa john's ceo and denny's franchise seem to leave themselves plenty of wiggle room here, particularly on the hours of franchise employees. is this a pr stunt to save face, or is there substance behind this, ruth? >> i think it's a pr move. but, you know, since 2006, we've seen more and more part-time workers, particularly in these kinds of big chains. so a lot of ceos know that they can save money by not allowing people to work full-time and qualified for benefits. and that is part of the game that's being played in the labor market, where people are willing to take a bunch of different part-time jobs and work with no benefits. my personal favorite response to

this was ian's pizza became world famous for giving out free pizza slices to protesters at our capital against scott walker, the protest against scott walker, he said, look, i've, givening my employees benefits for nine years, we do full-time work, we treat our employees like family, we can afford it, and so can these big changes. who wants to compete to be the world's worst employer? i think that message, in the sense that some sense of humanity, some sense of business. republicans love to talk about small business. well, real small businesses like ian's, who treat their employees well and actually give them benefits and people are there for a while, and don't treat them as disposable, these folks are on the side of obama care. and i think that's a real lesson for people who think, like the republicans think, that they should just be able to squeeze people as hard as they can. >> and papa john's ceo also said, "and this way i can get -- i can provide health insurance and i'm not at a competitive disadvantage.

our competitors are going to have to do the same thing. why wouldn't they embrace it from the start and work with the legislation? this is where, i think, they really made the mistake, john. and now they've got this big pr problem on their hands. what's the best way to correct it? give out more free pizza? >> well, of course. you know, maybe they can come up with a pizza with turkey for tomorrow. but the bottom line is this. the affordable care act is going to be terrific for small business owners and also a lot of bigger business owners. it is a way to rationalize the delivery of health care in the united states and to make sure that it's quality care and affordable care. the madness of some of these ceos, who have tried to separate themselves out and be these militant opponents of health care reform, is that they provide a service in a community. they provide food.

and you don't want your workers to be sick on the job. you don't want people who you've reduced to part-time employment, who can't get health care, then coming in and preparing food. the bottom line is, we have the potential for a healthier, more functional society. as ruth says, there's firms like ian's, and a lot of bigger restauranteurs, who get that this is to the good. and in a way, this is sort of like the dead-enders, the last holdouts who are trying to oppose something that, frankly, in very short order, is going to be very, very popular in the same way that social security, medicare, and medicaid are very, very popular. >> and i guess, ruth, this might just be a big message to a lot

of small business owners out there. when you jump in the lake, you're going to get wet. i mean, there was one denny's owner down in florida that says that he was getting phone calls and he didn't have anything to do with it. there was a backlash on that. so this is going to make the republic response make corporate leaders, i think, think twice about their political outbursts. there's a difference between going local and keeping it local. but when you go national like that, there's going to be a downside. don't you think? >> i think, absolutely. i mean, the latest numbers of people who want to repeal obama care is only about 33%, which is the lowest it's been. as people see it, they like it more. and people have more humane values than the republicans. and they are, in so many ways, having to come to grips with what americans really think about having a strong middle class, about putting back into your community, about treating people decently, and not just maximizing profits for the very, very rich. it's a big wake-up call. >> ruth connif and john nichols, great to have you with us tonight. happy thanksgiving. coming up, john mccain and lindsey graham's libya conspiracy theories have been proven wrong every step of the way and they're not giving up. we'll try to straighten their points out when we come back on this crazy witch hunt.

and later, the 2012 election is over, which means some republicans are already looking for ways to block the vote in 2016. state senator nina turner of ohio joins know talk about john husted's latest scheme. stay tuned.

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. the witch hunt against u.n. ambassador susan rice is falling apart. senators john mccain and lindsey

graham have been accusing the obama administration of changing susan rice's talking points, following the benghazi incident. they claim links to al qaeda were left out for political purposes. but on tuesday, their conspiracy theory was blown out of the water. the spokeswoman for the director of national intelligence told cnn the white house wasn't involved in removing the information on al qaeda. he said the intelligence community made the changes. in responding to this report, mccain admitted that he was wrong, but still took a shot at the white house. he said intelligence officials, quote, told us they did not know who made the changes. now we have to read the answers to our questions in the media. this latest episode is another reason why many of us are so suspicious of actions of this administration when it comes to the benghazi attack. meanwhile, his sidekick, lindsey graham, is going into full

attack mode. senator graham wrote a letter to president obama on tuesday, saying that he's concerned. many questions remain unanswered on the benghazi attacks. he says the president has a duty to the american people to answer the basic questions surrounding the benghazi attack. so far, all of the right-wing conspiracy theories about the benghazi attack have been completely wrong. it's about time they dropped all of this nonsense and just went back to doing their jobs. let's bring in democratic consultant, tara doudel, and also with us tonight, daily beast contributor and political strategist, bob shrum. great to have both of you with us. bob, you first. i found senator graham's letter rather interesting. he implied that the obama administration is not assisting congress in the libya investigation. have they been stonewalling in any way?

what do you think? >> no, i don't think they've been stonewalling at all. look, john mccain is a bitter man who's never gotten over 2008 and attacks the president on almost anything. and lindsey graham is his mini me. what's going on here is that they had a theory, a conspiracy theory about libya. mitt romney tried to elaborate it in the second debate. he got slapped down. couldn't even talk about it in the third debate. the more we learn about this, the more we learn that this was a very standard procedure in terms of reaction. you put out there what you can put out there. you don't put out there things that would reveal sources and methods of intelligence or minimize the chances that you would catch someone. one of the things that's most disturbing about this, ed, once again, you have the republicans going after an african-american. we saw it with eric holder, we're seeing it with susan rice. it's the same old politics they've played since 1968 in the southern strong and it's not about national security, it's about politics. >> well, let's throw in shirley sherrod's name, and also, there

have been a number of others out there as well. tara, are mccain and graham not giving up on libya because they're afraid of getting primaried? are they trying to go hard right to keep people away from them? >> well, i think this absolutely has 100% to do with politics. like you said earlier, ed, it is a political witch hunt. lindsey graham is definitely probable going to face a primary challenge. so he's trying to burnish his conservative credentials. and also, i want to add that this was never about susan rice. this is 100% about president barack obama. this is an attack on him. they weren't able to get him during this campaign. they threw everything at him, including the kitchen sink. and he still came out victorious. his approval ratings are going up. and like jim demint said, he

said he wanted to break president obama. i believe this to be part of an ongoing strategy to try to do that. >> a number of people have said that these attacks on susan rice are racially motivated. senator graham responded to this earlier today. here it is. >> they say that you and john mccain are sexist and racist as well for criticizing ambassador rice. >> well, when you can't answer the question, you attack the questioner. the only color i'm worried about when it comes to benghazi is red, blood red. the death of four americans. >> bob, what about that? what's your response, to the way graham is handling that? >> first of all, they have answered all the questions. all you have to do is listen to dianne feinstein, the responsible people who have gone to these hearings. john mccain didn't even bother to go to a briefing to he could hold a news conference complaining about this. but mitt romney through the campaign denied that the welfare attack was racist. john sununu denied that he was being racist, when he said that colin powell had only endorsed the president because of race. you know, these republicans,

since the campaign, have said they're going to rethink who they are and where they're going to go. well, a republican party whose future is its own race baiting past has no future in america. not only with african-americans, but with latinos, with asian americans, and frankly, with the mainstream of america. these guys ought to focus on the problems that this country faces right now in terms of the fiscal cliff, in terms of the middle east, and not try, and i think it's exactly right to say this, not try to drag the president, not just susan rice, but the president through the mud again. it failed in the campaign. it won't work now. >> and where does susan rice go are from here? does this hurt her position of possibly being nominated, tara, for secretary of state? i mean, is she damaged goods, politically, so to speak? >> well, obviously, this doesn't help susan rice. and i think that that's really sad, that a woman with her credentials and her qualifications is having her name dragged through the mud over a political fight based on them wanting to attack the president. i do think the president will

stand strong and if he wants to appoint her to something, i think he's going to stand strong. i think it's important for democrats to expose what's really going on here and to continue to expose it, so people know that this is not about benghazi and the fact that people did die and there should be justice served. but this is raw, pure politics. and i think that's why we have to continue to speak out and continue to highlight the hypocrisy here, especially on the part of john mccain and lindsey graham, who went condoleezza rice got bad intelligence, they rushed to her defense, and said, don't rush to judgment on this. and now all of a sudden they want to rush to judgment without hearing any of the facts. . and the bottom line here is that she wasn't even responsible for the security of that embassy. >> tara, great to have you with us. bob shrum, appreciate your time tonight. >> happy turkey day. >> that's exactly what it's going to be. that and a lot of football. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> it's a lot easier to vote in ohio than it is in most states. >> the republican effort to block the vote in 2012 was a complete failure, so they're getting a leg up on 2016 with some new tricks. ohio state senator nina turner weighs in text.

tom turkey won't be the only thing full of stuffing tomorrow. comedian barratunde thurston will tell us how to talk to right-wing relatives over the turkey. and the winningest coach in college football history is hanging it up. we'll bring you the heart-warming story of st. john's coach, john gad leagery. >> hard for me to believe, and grateful that i could raise a family in a game. you can prevent gas with beano meltaways, or treat gas with these after you get it. now that's like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. oh, somebody out there's saying, now i get it! take beano before and there'll be no gas. take beano before and need to get my car fixed? progressive makes it easy, because we give you choices. you can pick where to get your car fixed, we can cut you a check, or, at our service center, we take care of everything for you.

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and we are back. the election was just two weeks ago, but republicans are already looking for new ways to suppress the vote in 2016. we don't even get a break? one of 2012's voter suppression experts, ohio secretary of state, john husted, is taking the lead in floating the idea of rigging the electoral college vote. it's the same scheme governor

tom corbett in pennsylvania has tried. instead of all the current winner-take-all system, which handed president obama ohio's 18 electoral votes, husted's plan would divide electoral votes by congressional district. ohio political blog, blunderblund, points out, under husted's plan, 12 of ohio's 18 electoral votes would have been handed to mitt romney, the popular vote loser. husted put it this way. >> it will not be a winner take all state, and you would not have another elections controversy about ohio, because we wouldn't matter as much anymore. >> any elections controversy in ohio was a product of john husted and the gop's attempt to suppress the vote. ohio, i certainly hope you're listening to this.

i know we just got through an election, but they're back at it again. because, you see, the man managing your election is looking for new ways to make your vote not matter the next time around. joining us tonight, ohio state senator, nina turner. senator, good to have you with us on this. i'll tell you what, these republicans just won't back down at all. what is husted up to? what is happening here? >> if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again to suppress the vote. the secretary of state is in full effect in the dirty, rotten, tricks department. it makes no sense, and i agree with you, i hope that ohioans are listening. anytime you have an elected official say that he or she, but he in this case, does not want his state to be relevant in the next election, what an insult to the voters of this state. but i'm going to tell you something. evil never sleeps, so good can never take a vacation. and the democrats are going to continue to fight for the rights of all folks to vote in this state, as we have been. >> how would dividing the electoral votes by district hand the state of ohio to republicans? >> well, you know they gerrymandered the map, ed, and

we have one of the worst maps of any state in the united states right now. that means that 12 of those votes -- 12 of those electoral college votes would have gone to mitt romney, governor romney, although the president won the popular vote. it is because they rigged the -- they gerrymandered the entire map here in the state of ohio. so although our president won the state of ohio, 75% of our congressional seats went to republicans. >> so husted is coming up with a plan, that is going to break it up into districts, that it would actually make it easier, because of their gerrymandering, it would make it easier for a republican, nationally, to take the state of ohio. how does he get this through? where's john kasich on this, and what has to happen for this to turn out the way husted wants it? >> again, ed, we have not heard anything from the government on this issue, but i tell you this. the democrats in this state and other civic-minded groups, we're

not going to sit idly by and let the secretary of state try to do this. the general assembly needs to step up to the plate in this state and they need to set aside, and i'm talking about the gop members of the general assembly, their party affiliation when it comes to voting. voting is a matter of allowing the folks in the state of ohio to vote freely, no matter who they choose to vote for. and it shouldn't be based on party affiliation. and the fact that you have a secretary of state trying to rig the election only for a republican is a sad state of affairs. but the general assembly needs to step up, ed, and i will be there to push the envelope on that, you can bet that. >> seems to me like the national party has got their mits on this. or is husted smart enough to come up with this plan? i mean, it would seem to me that the national republicans are sitting there saying, we can't win the white house unless we

have ohio. we have to come up with a plan to make sure we can divide this stuff up, so the republicans will have a better chance of winning it. >> they tried in 2012, because the m thes stood up, and we'll keep standing up and fighting. whether it's the national republican party or the state party here in ohio, we're getting ready for them and we're not going to stand down. >> all right. great to have you with us. ohio state senator, nina turner. thank you for your time tonight. and a quick update on a story that we've been following. mediation talks between hostess and their workers' union have failed. today a federal judge approved a plan for hostess to wind down operations and the company will start to liquidate, selling off its assets. this means that 15,000 hostess workers will face immediate layoffs and within another additional 3,000 layoffs after they wind down and liquidate the assets. investors have expressed interest in buying the twinkie brand name. twinkie will survive hostess' bad business practices, but the

employees will be out of luck, right before the holidays. i can't believe that management at hostess is going to be getting a bonus while all of these employees are going to be getting a pink slip. one of the greatest college football coaches in history is retiring. tonight, i'll tell you why his unconventional coaching style helped him win big. stay tuned. we're right back.

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welcome back to "the ed show." today on facebook and twitter web asked our fans to tell us what they're thankful for this year. sandra says she's thankful her husband is home from war and our country is being led by a capable, experienced leader. dave parkinson is thankful for his great family and a re-elected president whose agenda is focused on growing and protecting the middle class. and nick is thankful that he will never be without health insurance due to a pre-existing condition. keep sharing your thoughts with us on facebook and twitter using #whyimthankful. up next, how to talk to your conservative family members and relatives on thanksgiving,

seeing that we got the big win. we're right back. stay with us. welcome back to "the ed show." tomorrow we celebrate and enjoy two great american traditions. we gather with friends and family to eat thanksgiving dinner, and to watch a whole heck of a lot of football, right? there are thousands of people around the country thankful for this man, john gagliardi. gagliardi is the winningest college football coach in america. this week, the 86-year-old gagliardi announced his retirement from st. john's university in collegeville, minnesota. after 64 years of college coach welcome and 60 of those seasons as the head coach with st. john's university in collegeville, minnesota, this gentleman, and he is a true gentleman, will leave the game with 489 wins. it's a little-known fact, but gagliardi has more wins than bobby bowdin and joe paterno. gagliardi was known for winning in a very unusual coaching style and an unconventional method. it's often called winning in nos. there was no tackling in practice, no contact. no hitting, blocking sleds, no mandatory weight training. no practices lasting longer than 90 minutes. and very interesting, he never used a whistle. no whistles at practice. and oddly enough, there was no calling him coach. john gagliardi insisted that everybody on the field just called him john. he truly cared about every one of his players, on and off the field. gagliardi's outstanding character prompted the white

house to release a statement this week. it reads, "gagliardi's genuine concern for players. as scholar athletes and human beings will ensure that his influence will be felt for years to come." hear, hear. gagliardi proved that bigger was not always better. division iii st. john's has produced the best coach ever, and he has the numbers to prove it. coming up, talking turkey with one of the most challenging relatives. find out what to say to old uncle fred. you know how that conservative uncle fred is. he likes to lip off at holidays about what's wrong with the liberals and everything else. well, wave got some tips on how to deal with him next. stay with us.

and in tonight's big finish, now, think about the. the political tension at the dinner table might have a little

different vibe to it with your family tomorrow. but be cool, be cool. you can smile, because president obama won re-election. there's no recount, there's no real question about the results. it's a done deal. you can say that in your mind, in your heart. still, this election just hasn't settled in with a lot of the conservatives out there and some of those family members might be a little unsettled. "saturday night live" offers some advice from a guy they call the drunk uncle. >> here with his advice on how to manage the holidays, please welcome, drunk uncle. >> occupy lame street. i mean, you know, kids, they need to pull up their pants, seth. kids today, kids today, they're always saying, text me, text me, text me, text me. why don't you write a letter, you dummy? >> a letter to who? >> you can't even say merry christmas anymore.

you got to say, hey, baby jesus, you want to do pilates? >> all right, it's funny, but not exactly helpful. your uncle fred might still be a little bit angry about the election. tonight, we've got some tips for responding to some of the political topics which could come up during dinner. let's bring in the founder of cultivated wit.com, baratunde thurston. he's also the author of "how to be black." mr. thurston, thanks for joining us tonight. i want to start with this, the traditional america. what do you do if uncle fred starts talking like this guy right here. >> the demographics are changing. it's not a traditional america anymore. and there are 50% of the voting public who want stuff, they want things. and who is going to give them things? president obama. >> what about that? how do they handle that at the table?

>> yeah, so, first of all, thanks for having me on, ed. happy thanksgiving to you, to all the viewers. i would say start compassionately. this is a tough time for uncle fred. he's angry, he's lashing out. give him a big hug, tell him you love them, tell him it's going to be okay, and tell him you've been there before, because when john kerry lost, you felt a similar silence of disappointment. and let him know you're there with him. as far as the stuff thing, i would flip it. i would say 100% of american who is want stuff. if you meet someone who's america who doesn't want stuff, then you get suspicious. you see something, you say something. if you don't want stuff, you hate america. it's the stuff-buying season. >> yeah. what if aunt hilda claims the president's re-election has triggered the zombie apocalypse. she might sound like this guy. here it is. >> there's more flexibility now and they remember their enemies. inflation is coming. the fiscal cliff is coming.

the dollar fell last night on the news. your taxes are going up, your health care costs are going up, your religion is going to come under attack. gas, coal, and energy is going to become more expensive. may i highly suggest you get grandfathered in to the second amendment today. >> how do you handle that kind of talk? >> first of all, if your aunt's name really is hilda, you got to be extra compassionate toward her, because she's had a rough life, because her name is hilda, and that's just, you know, even if she had a great life, she had to deal with some things that most of us never have to go through. so empathize with her. if she's listening to glenn beck, that's amazing. i didn't know he was still out there talking. i haven't heard for him in quite some time. it's been good. if she's worried about the zombie apocalypse, you could prime her for it, show her some "walking dead," later some "28 days," and maybe some "resident evil." saying, this has come long before obama's time, these tough situations we've had to deal

with. when the zombie apocalypse does come, it's going to be because of science, some rogue scientist in a lab. and obama's more pro-scientist, allowing scientists to make decisions and follow through on them. so we might have a zombie apocalypse on our shoulders in the future, but not this holiday season. >> all right, baratunde thurston, thank you so much. i think a smile at the dinner table is probably the most disarming thing. and we liberals can take heart that we did win the election after working awfully, awfully hard. we have a lot as a country and as a family to be thankful for this thanksgiving. i hope all of you remember our troops who are separated from their families who are all over the world, doing what they are doing in uniform for the united states of america. and of course, this has been certainly a very different year